Large-scale deforestation to adversely impact Monsoon in India

“Forest are the world’s air-conditioning system—the lungs of the planet—and we are on the verge of switching it off,” this is what Prince Charles had to say on the issue of deforestation. And he was so right. According to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), large-scale deforestation could cut rainfall in India by nearly a fifth by shifting monsoon rains southwards.

Deforestation has also been linked with rising temperature in local areas, but its impact on the monsoon wasn’t read much. Perhaps, this is why scientists at Divecha Center for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science used a model simulating atmosphere circulation, as well as photosynthesis, transpiration, warming of the ocean surface and ice melt to see the impact of deforestation on the surrounding environment.

As per a statement issued by the researchers, "We wanted to get a basic understanding of the effects of large-scale deforestation at different locations on monsoon rainfall."

The scientists conducted three experiments to observe the impacts of deforestation in tropical, temperate, and high-latitude areas.
Large-scale deforestation in the temperate and high latitudes can affect tropical rainfall in a drastic way. It leads to changes in atmospheric circulation as a result of which the monsoon rains shift southwards. This would badly impact the South Asian monsoon region, with an 18% reduction in precipitation over India, the researchers concluded.
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